Famous Laois pub to reopen after changing hands

One of Ireland’s best known pubs, Morrissey’s of Abbeyleix, is reopening this weekend after being sold. 

The landmark Laois pub will be run by local man and former Morrissey’s publican John Nolan. 

Mr Nolan began working in the pub trade in Morrissey’s under the late Paddy Mulhall in 1993. “I started out here in 1993. It was six months after my dad died. That’s how I met Paddy, Paddy was an undertaker,” he recalled. 

Mr Nolan asked for a job and Mr Mulhall took him under his wing. Mr Nolan said Paddy then sent him to Dublin to “learn the trade” and he worked there for a number of years before returning to Laois.  

A frequent haunt of both national and international celebrities, Morrissey’s was recently named as one of the top 20 pubs in Ireland by the Lonely Planet. 

In the list of ‘20 of the best pubs in Ireland for pints, music and the time of your life’,   Morrissey's was cited as: “Transporting you back in time to the 1900s.” Originally a shop, the pub has retained its old charm and its new owners have no intention of changing the winning formula.  

“Everything that was put into it, TVs memorabilia that wasn’t authentic, has been taken out,” Mr Nolan explained. He said one TV will be kept in a room at the rear of the pub but radios and DJs will not feature in the pub. 

He said the toilets, which were opened in 1982 by Mike Murphy, have been upgraded as has safety equipment. However, otherwise the pub remains stripped back to its original state and Mr Nolan said it will remain very much a traditional pub with traditional music. 

A host of national and international stars have frequented Morrissey’s over the years and the pub has served as a backdrop for TV ads and films.  

Morrissey’s had been in the ownership of Carlow publican Tom Lennon for the past twenty years. He bought it after becoming fascinated with it during a visit to the National Ploughing Championships.  It’s understood the new owner is local man, Dan Tynan. 

Morrissey’s is due to open this weekend and an official opening is expected to take place later this month.

The pub remains very much rooted in the local community and in  keeping with this, it is sponsoring the Abbeyleix Heritage Arts Festival in aid of Down Syndrome Laois- Laois Field of Dreams, Abbeyleix. The event is taking place from August 12 to 14.